List of Notable Warbird People

[Noha307]

Should we add Nobuo Harada for the Betty restoration/recreation?

He's the one behind the Kawaguchiko Car Museum? Yeah, I'd say that counts.

While we're on the subject of non-English speaking people, I recently learned about Boris Osetinsky in Russia. Mr. Osetinsky owns Aviarestoration [1], is the president of the Wings of Victory Fund [2], and has been recovering warbirds for over 25 years [3].

[Noha307]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Ernie Simmons yet...

36+ NA-64 Yales, at least 8 Fairey Swordfish and a Lysander (now hanging at Udvar-Hazy) would be pots and pans had it not been for Ernie and his 'grand scheme' to sell them back to the RCAF at a profit.

In case anyone wants to read any more about him, Chapter XIV of the 1972 book They Call Me Mr. Airshow by Bill Sweet is titled "Ernie Simmons and his private air force".

[Noha307]

Found an article with an excellent summary of Robert Pond's life: Bob Pond And The Palm Springs Air Museum

In the process of searching for anything related, I also came across his obituary, which has a few nuggets as well: Robert Pond, avid aviator collected World War II planes

[paddleblade]

Might have missed it but what about Connie Edwards. Thanks for the effort this has been a great read/history lesson.

[Noha307]

I don't know if he's been mentioned yet, but Don Hamilton of AirSpray Ltd. might deserve a mention. If for no other reason than the fact that the company he started is responsible for a large number of the A-26s and TBMs still surviving in the world today.

A few articles about him:

• Biography on Air Spray's website
• Obituary from the Edmonton Journal
• Mention of Passing by the Canadian Aviation Historical Society
• Biography from Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame

Also, I guess if we mention him it is only reasonable to also mention Bob Gauchie and/or Joe McBryan of Buffalo Airways.

[Noha307]

While I was writing the above post and reading an article from Smithsonian Magazine about Buffalo Airways I came across another article about two individuals who deserve mention as well: Dietrich Mateschitz, the creator of Red Bull energy drink, and Siegfried "Sigi" Angerer, the former chief pilot for the collection.

[Noha307]

Two to consider adding to the list of authors: Yefim Gordon and John W. R. Taylor

I'm afraid that by suggesting these two, along with R. E. G. Davies, who I mentioned earlier, this list risks leaking into general aviation history/aviation journalism territory. However, I think there might be enough of a crossover to justify including them.

[Noha307]

I realized I had two more authors on another version of this list that I forgot to include here: Robert F. Dorr and William Green.

[JohnB]

In the interviening period since my last post, I've come across a few more myself:
[list]
[*]Charles Klessig [1]

You can see him flying his (then newly restored) Standard in the 1971 TV series "Bearcats!". He was in one episode, "Ground Loop at Spanish Wells" which features the Standard extensively.
You can get the DVD on Amazon for about $15.
I own the car used in the series, so I did some research on Klessig, I have a couple of behind the scenes photos taken during filming. You can also buy his self-published autobiography from the Bonanzaville museum in Fargo. The Standard used in the series is at the Fargo Air Museum. His second Standard is at the EAA Museum.

[Bomberboy]

I can't help but think this question almost ends up seeming a little pointless as there are just so many significant names to post?
Some pioneers from the past and those of today that are following in their footsteps.

Anyway,

From a British perspective:

here's a few of the following that may have been omitted?

Gp Capt Hamish Mahaddie
Stefan Kowalski
Mike Woodley
Ormond Haydon Baille
John Watts
Paul Warren Wilson
Arthur Gibson
John (Jeff) Hawke
Neil Williams
Carl Schofield
Lindsey Walton
Maurice Hammond
Me
Everyone I've ever worked or flown with in Warbirds.
Hoof & Lee Proudfoot
Paul Morgan
Ian Arnold
Fred, Harold and Andrew Panton
Andrew Dixon
Brian Smith
Smudger Smith
Bill Kelly
Colin and Dave
Eddie Coventry
Arnold Glass
Mike Collett
Peter Hoare
Alan Goldsmith
Keith Sissons
Clive Denney
Charlie Brown
Shaun Patrick
Steve Jones
John Dodd
Jon Corley
Paul Bonhomme
Kenneth & Mette Aarkvisla
All the Red Bull outfit
Dodge Bailey
Karel Bos
Raymond Baxter
Graham Warner
Steve Vizard and all the Airframe Assemblies people
Craig Charleston
Tony Ditheridge
Peter, Gladys and son Ray Thomas
Sir William Roberts
Robs Lamplough
Paul Raymond
Colin & Dave Swann
Rob Davies
Anders Saether
Lars Ness
Sir Adrian Swire
The Honourable Patrick Lindsay
John Larcome and his daughter Jane
John Munn and all the other fine people that have been involved at the Shuttleworth Collection
All the Red Bull outfit
Edwin Boschoff and all the other Duke of Brabant people
and I could go on and on and on ad-nauseum...…………..which is why I think this is a somewhat pointless exercise as there are just toooo many people!!!

I can't say I saw the Friedkin families name mentioned
And what about Paul Mantz aka Tallmantz Aviation

-Ray and Mark Hanna
-John Romain
-Pete Kynsey
-Guy Black
-Peter Monk
-Stephen and Nick Grey
-Richard Grace
-Tony Ditheridge
-Air Marshal (ret'd) Cliff Spink
-Stu Goldspink
-Ron Souch
-Elly Salingboe
-Doug and David Arnold

And from all over the world:

-The Salis family
-The Meier family
-Steve and 'Stevo' Hinton
-Nelson Ezell
-John Sessions
-Stew Dawson

This is why I feel thsi is almost a pointless exercise

[Clifford Bossie]

The many enthusiasts that pay the ticket price to attend airshows and keep airplanes in the air. They are the ones that foot the bills

[Noha307]

I was looking around the Pacific Wrecks website and realized that it lists a whole bunch of people that could be considered here. There are way too many to go through at the moment, but the profiles can be found under the Oral Histories & Interviews section of the website.

Another one to potentially consider as an author, although I feel that I might be really stretching it at this point, is Lutz Budraß.

[ZRX61]

I can't help but think this question almost ends up seeming a little pointless as there are just so many significant names to post?
Some pioneers from the past and those of today that are following in their footsteps.

Anyway,

From a British perspective:

here's a few of the following that may have been omitted?

No mention of Baldrick?

[michaelharadon]

Dave Goss. Gosshawk, Coolidge, AZ

Pooner

Gary Austin

[Scott Rose]

We should start a Warbird Hall Of Fame... or is that a thing already?